Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Form:uLA-The Big Bang.....Creatively Speaking

Design is a lengthy process. It requires trial and error and constant questioning. Whatever the product is, it undergoes a rigorous examination of possibilities that may or may not improve the product. Lessons are learned and then applied before the final product is delivered. Products that undergo a weak design process, or no process at all, are most often either forgotten or failures. Before that process can occur however, there must be an idea. A process of thought  that captures the very essence of Creativity. From a void emerges an idea, and from that idea, a concept explodes to be explored, investigated and developed. Without this” Big Bang” of originality there is no progression of a concept. There is no process of investigation and exploration of alternate possibilities and the process of design becomes nothing more than a cycle of digestion and regurgitation of what already exists.
 In terms of the architectural design process, there is no better example of this Big Bang of Originality than the world being explored by Bryan Cantley and his architectural laboratory Form:uLA.  It is a world of architectural thought and alternate possibilities that exist on a different plane of reality than the one we are familiar with. It is an architecture that is not for the faint of heart, or as Cantley himself might say, NSFA ( Not Safe For Architecture (Architects?)).  Our perceptions of what architecture is, and what it can be, are challenged in his recently published book “MECHUDZU: New Rhetorics for Architecture”.


*Mechudzu Cover, Copyright Form:uLA*

 In order to really appreciate the work (data?) being explored in the book, one is required to suspend one’s beliefs and follow the rabbit down the hole into the world being explored by Cantley. You simply cannot bring your familiar architectural bags with you when you are trying to understand a project with a title like “Enantiomorphistic Inversions” (...and yes I have checked the spelling at least 10 times!).  To do so, one risks the possibility of one’s head exploding! The beauty of the ideas (experiments?) being explored by Cantley is not in the projects themselves. A world populated by the theoretical constructions presented in the book might be a bit on the uncomfortable side for most people, which is where the suspension of beliefs comes into play. Enjoy the work presented in the book for its purity of origin and unbridled imagination.....That is where the beauty lies. That and the very fact that these ideas came to fruition and are being explored in the first place!
To continue the Big Bang analogy, the projects and ideas being investigated are being generated in a primordial soup of architectural thought that is mix of advanced machine technology, complex layering of informational data and pure unadulterated passion for architectural experimentation. While Cantley may be swimming in the same waters that Lebbeus Woods once swam in (RIP Mr. Woods), he is expanding on that influence with every project, and discovering waters that have not yet been visited. These experiments are most certainly unique in origin and are fantastic examples of the essence of creativity. There is no better example of this passion for the original and the unique than the project "Mobile Gatherspace". 

Mobile Gatherspace, Copyright Form:uLA*

I don’t know what the parameters were or what the question was that the “Mobile Gatherspace” was in response to. I can imagine it was in response to something like….”In the year 2150, how will our civic institutions adapt to the ever changing social, economical, global and physical forces that shape that society?” From that question, and before anything existed before it, the idea of a floating civic plaza occurs…..and explodes into the theoretical construct of the “Mobile Gatherspace”.Yes it’s theoretical, nothing more than a concept. Whether something like it could be built, not to mention float, from location to location is actually of little importance.  The true value of this project lies in the inception of the unique and original idea, and then developing that into a quantifiable project that others can critique, respond to, and be inspired from. The project, (along with the other theoretical , graphical, economical and even alchemical projects listed in the book's contents) displays a purity of thought and a passion for the alternative possibilities that exist if one is willing to simply discover them.

*Mobile Gatherspace, Copyright Form:uLA*

The other aspect of the architectural investigations that requires mention is the sheer audacity of the investigations, and the confidence in which they are developed through the design process. From somebody grounded in the minutia of everyday architectural production like myself (flashing details, sq. footage costs and the number of risers between floors), it is a refreshing and pleasant visceral experience to see the successful experimental investigations of  Bryan Cantley and his architectural laboratory, Form:uLA. They continue to pull back the curtain on an alternate reality of mind numbing constructs that challenge the everyday perception of our built environment; what architecture is, and the inherent possibilities  if we allow ourselves, as Cantley puts it, …..to consider the future of architecture before we actually get there”.

MECHUDZU: New Rhetorics for Architecture” by  Bryan Cantley……………….Read it( repeat as necessary), learn from it and become inspired from it!

For a further taste of of the work, please visit

 Well done Mr. Cantley. Well done!
RBP

9/18/13
*all images obtained and used with permission of Form:uLA

1 comment:

  1. Ron-
    I am most humbled by your review of my work. I appreciate your thoughtful words, and hope that others may use your introduction here to indulge in a little "different thinking". Thank you for taking the time to read between the lines of what the work may represent.

    Bryan

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